Fall of the MOM, plight of wizard world in DH (Re: Trelawney Award, part II)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 177291

> Hickengruendler:
> I am a bit annoyed with myself, because I guessed the fall of the 
> ministry for the end of HBP. My thought was, that Voldemort needed
> to do something, to became worse than ever. (Which he should, 
> according to Trelawney's prediction from PoA). Yet, when nothing 
> happened, I thought I was mistaken and did not even considered the
> possibility, that it would happen at the beginning of book 7 
> instead. I really don't know, why.

Jen:  Good observation about the possible trajectory.  I didn't give 
much credence to the politics in OOTP beyond what was happening at 
Hogwarts.  After HBP came out, I thought it was proof that the final 
book would be a more intimate look at various characters (backstories 
and connections) rather than the more action-oriented political 
maneuvering of OOTP.  When JKR said, "You need what's in there [book 
5] if I'm going to play fair for the reader in the resolution in book 
seven"* well that translated to me as, 'that means something 
important will happen at the DOM or St. Mungos, or maybe the 
Longbottom story will play a more important role or....' background 
IOW, not the story itself.  

Looking back, I honestly expected the Trio would go out looking for 
Horcruxes but the rest of the WW would basically stay the same as it 
did in HBP!  Voldemort would have another plan to get Harry and the 
rest of the WW would continue in an almost static way - the Order 
would continue to fight back; the MOM wouldn't really get much done 
but wouldn't be taken over either; Hogwarts would remain operational 
under McGonagall because without Harry and Dumbledore, what did 
Voldemort care about it?  Doh.  Instead, and this makes sense in 
retrospect as really clever, Voldemort targeted all the major 
institutions in the WW for takeover right out of the gate, proving he 
did have a gift for spreading discord and enmity.  The coup de grace 
was setting up Harry as Dumbledore's possible murderer, thus taking 
away (or at least throwing into question) the last hope for his 
defeat.   

And if I hadn't figured out I was reading primarily from Harry's 
pretty naive pov, this moment did it for me: "Panic pulsed in the pit 
of his stomach.  As he passed gleaming wooden door after wooden door, 
each bearing a small plaque with the owner's name and occupation upon 
it, the might of the Ministry, its complexity, its impenetrability, 
seemed to force itself upon him so that the plan he had been 
carefully concocting with Ron and Hermione over the past four weeks 
seemed laughably childish." (DH, chap. 13, p. 247, Am. ed)  Seems the 
scales dropped from our eyes at about the same time, lol. 

Jen

*TLC/Mugglenet interview, July 2005